Jenny Fine used her artistic view to present five photographs of two sisters that tells a story throughout their lifetime. Although not completely known, each photograph tells a different story that the viewer almost has to figure out for themselves. Looking at the pictures, one explanation seems to stick out in my mind.
The five photographs appear to be very old. They are each black and white with individual pieces of the photos faded and unclear. The first photograph presents two young girls, who are obviously sisters. The photograph does not show either of their faces, but the girls from mid-chest and down. It seems as if one girl is either dark minded or not as happy as the other because of her attire. The sister to the right is wearing a grayish colored dress which is very simply made, with black simple strapped shoes. The girl on the left is wearing a white, cream colored dress with a shear chiffon type material at the bottom with cream colored nicely strapped shoes. Each girl has their hands folded in front of them with their fingers interlocked. The girl on the right has her left thumb tucked tightly under her right thumb, while the girl on the left has her right thumb tightly tucked under her left thumb. They are standing in front of what appears to be an older white house, which is more than likely the house they have grown up in.
In the second photograph, the young girl dressed in the white dress appears to be outside. The background is dark and barely leaves any room for imagination. The girl seems to be bending over, with her arms hanging down in front of her. Her head is turned to her right and her eyes are gazing off in the distance as if she has something heavy on her mind. She does not appear to be looking at anything; it is almost a blank stare. She is standing on a rocky, muddy surface in front of what looks like a concrete wall. On the left side of the wall, there is a certain fabric hanging from the top in which appears to be a thin sheet of lace.
In the third picture, it appears to be an early, bright Sunday afternoon. There is a young girl in a yard with her hands above her head as if she has been jumping. Her feet are slightly off the ground and her dress is being blown up, showing her undergarments and covering her face. The yard looks as if it is the girls back yard of her home, because behind her is a large field with a large tree directly behind her to the left and shrubbery to the right of her. There is an old swing set in between the large tree and the shrubbery. The young girl’s dress is white and she is wearing white flat shoes. Although the colors are the same as the girl in the other photos, it is not known which girl this is. Her dress and shoes are completely different from the other photographs.
The fourth photograph is very dark and difficult to understand. There is a girl in a white dress running in a very dark, eerie field. Only the bottom half of the young girl is shown and her activity causes her to appear very blurry. It looks as if she is running to escape something. The whole scene is very dark and depressing as if something terrible is soon to come. Although the future is unknown, the scene, in my opinion, somewhat foreshadows death.
In the fifth and final photograph, there are two older women standing side by side. Their faces are not seen once again and it only shows them from mid chest down. They are wearing long black dresses with quarter length sleeves. The scene is very gloomy like someone has passed away. They are standing in an open field with large dead trees behind them. When looking at the picture you can tell tragedy has happened.
The first and last photographs are alike, yet very different. In both photos there are two girls who appear to be sisters standing side by side. In each photo, they both have their hands folded in front of them and their faces are unseen. Taking a deeper look, you begin to see the differences. In the first photo, the two sisters, individually, have their hands in front of them with their fingers interlocked. This somewhat signifies that they have each other and that at that moment, if they needed it, they would have someone right beside them to fill the spaces in between their fingers. They both know the other one will always be there and they find comfort in that. Even if they do share differences, they are one in the same. In the last photo, however, both sisters have their hands laying in front of them, but with one hand cupped in the other. Taking a look closer, the photo reveals that what looks like two separate girls, is really one. Using the line of symmetry, if you were to fold the photo directly in the middle, left to right, right to left, it is the exact same girl. The girl’s hand signifies that one sister has passed away. There is no longer anyone to fill the spaces in between her fingers, so she cups them. The woman is obviously mourning the death of her sister, considering her attire. Just like the beginning photo, the girls will always be together and the woman who is gone lives on in her sister forever. This is why the one woman, appears to be two.
In conclusion, Jenny Fine was very successful in producing stories throughout her photographs. I chose her photographs because of my reaction towards them in the beginning. At first glance, it is hard to comprehend what she is trying to get across in her photos, but taking a deeper look, you begin to see what she is trying to communicate to the viewer. Maybe she chose these photos because they related to her in some way, or maybe she just enjoys art. Either way, she did an excellent job of presenting art to students and she proves that art is not just a brush away. Photography is a large part of art and it plays a big role in my life because I am leaning towards majoring in Studio Art, such as photography. Like the saying “a picture says a thousand words”, this is exactly what her photographs did. I highly recommend, to every student, to visit Woods Art Gallery to view her presentation.
The five photographs appear to be very old. They are each black and white with individual pieces of the photos faded and unclear. The first photograph presents two young girls, who are obviously sisters. The photograph does not show either of their faces, but the girls from mid-chest and down. It seems as if one girl is either dark minded or not as happy as the other because of her attire. The sister to the right is wearing a grayish colored dress which is very simply made, with black simple strapped shoes. The girl on the left is wearing a white, cream colored dress with a shear chiffon type material at the bottom with cream colored nicely strapped shoes. Each girl has their hands folded in front of them with their fingers interlocked. The girl on the right has her left thumb tucked tightly under her right thumb, while the girl on the left has her right thumb tightly tucked under her left thumb. They are standing in front of what appears to be an older white house, which is more than likely the house they have grown up in.
In the second photograph, the young girl dressed in the white dress appears to be outside. The background is dark and barely leaves any room for imagination. The girl seems to be bending over, with her arms hanging down in front of her. Her head is turned to her right and her eyes are gazing off in the distance as if she has something heavy on her mind. She does not appear to be looking at anything; it is almost a blank stare. She is standing on a rocky, muddy surface in front of what looks like a concrete wall. On the left side of the wall, there is a certain fabric hanging from the top in which appears to be a thin sheet of lace.
In the third picture, it appears to be an early, bright Sunday afternoon. There is a young girl in a yard with her hands above her head as if she has been jumping. Her feet are slightly off the ground and her dress is being blown up, showing her undergarments and covering her face. The yard looks as if it is the girls back yard of her home, because behind her is a large field with a large tree directly behind her to the left and shrubbery to the right of her. There is an old swing set in between the large tree and the shrubbery. The young girl’s dress is white and she is wearing white flat shoes. Although the colors are the same as the girl in the other photos, it is not known which girl this is. Her dress and shoes are completely different from the other photographs.
The fourth photograph is very dark and difficult to understand. There is a girl in a white dress running in a very dark, eerie field. Only the bottom half of the young girl is shown and her activity causes her to appear very blurry. It looks as if she is running to escape something. The whole scene is very dark and depressing as if something terrible is soon to come. Although the future is unknown, the scene, in my opinion, somewhat foreshadows death.
In the fifth and final photograph, there are two older women standing side by side. Their faces are not seen once again and it only shows them from mid chest down. They are wearing long black dresses with quarter length sleeves. The scene is very gloomy like someone has passed away. They are standing in an open field with large dead trees behind them. When looking at the picture you can tell tragedy has happened.
The first and last photographs are alike, yet very different. In both photos there are two girls who appear to be sisters standing side by side. In each photo, they both have their hands folded in front of them and their faces are unseen. Taking a deeper look, you begin to see the differences. In the first photo, the two sisters, individually, have their hands in front of them with their fingers interlocked. This somewhat signifies that they have each other and that at that moment, if they needed it, they would have someone right beside them to fill the spaces in between their fingers. They both know the other one will always be there and they find comfort in that. Even if they do share differences, they are one in the same. In the last photo, however, both sisters have their hands laying in front of them, but with one hand cupped in the other. Taking a look closer, the photo reveals that what looks like two separate girls, is really one. Using the line of symmetry, if you were to fold the photo directly in the middle, left to right, right to left, it is the exact same girl. The girl’s hand signifies that one sister has passed away. There is no longer anyone to fill the spaces in between her fingers, so she cups them. The woman is obviously mourning the death of her sister, considering her attire. Just like the beginning photo, the girls will always be together and the woman who is gone lives on in her sister forever. This is why the one woman, appears to be two.
In conclusion, Jenny Fine was very successful in producing stories throughout her photographs. I chose her photographs because of my reaction towards them in the beginning. At first glance, it is hard to comprehend what she is trying to get across in her photos, but taking a deeper look, you begin to see what she is trying to communicate to the viewer. Maybe she chose these photos because they related to her in some way, or maybe she just enjoys art. Either way, she did an excellent job of presenting art to students and she proves that art is not just a brush away. Photography is a large part of art and it plays a big role in my life because I am leaning towards majoring in Studio Art, such as photography. Like the saying “a picture says a thousand words”, this is exactly what her photographs did. I highly recommend, to every student, to visit Woods Art Gallery to view her presentation.
3 comments:
Hey Marian,
The one thing you are extremely established in is observation. Your observations with Jenny Fine’s work are vivid and detailed. That’s great! Anyone could read your paper, whether familiar with the pieces or not, and form mental pictures of the five pieces. From the structure and organization standpoint, you organized by the order of description, your interpretation, and then level of effectiveness. This way of organizing your paper is fine, however, there are some changes you can make to make the paper more opinionated. What I mean by an opinionated paper is that you MUST have a thesis—either clearly stated or hidden within your paper. I could not find a thesis in your paper. Also, the overuse of words (almost, like, as if, seems, appears, very, SOMEWHAT, ect.), shows that you are not 100% sure about your opinions of the art. These words should be deleted or replaced with words that show you truly believe in your own interpretations. Am I making any sense? For example, when you say “In my opinion,” it is unnecessary. It is not needed because this is YOUR paper and the reader is automatically going to expect your opinion. You simply need to state your opinion/THESIS and then support it with substantial evidence…the photos. You already have the evidence: your description of the pieces. You simply need to go back through your paper and be more positive about your own interpretation.
In your essay, "A Sister's Bond," you do a very good job of describing the five pictures by the artist. From your descriptions alone one can paint the picture as if there. I also enjoyed your deep analysis of the meaning. You take the photographs and play an entire story out that sounds perfectly plausible.
One thing i would look into including in this essay in the art gallery itself. You jump right into an artist without giving any kind of introduction to the Synarts gallery or Jenny Fine as an artist herself. Your first sentence is,"Jenny Fine used her artistic view to present five photographs of two sisters that tells a story throughout their lifetime." I think this essay could start out smoother by including before this sentence somthing like,"While visiting the Synarts Gallery at the University of Alabama, the creative photographs of Jenny Fine stole my attention from the other exhibits." Something like this could really open up the scene for your already great essay. Another thing i would fix would be the interpretation of the third photograph. All of the other paragraphs have in depth analysis of what you believe is being portrayed but photo three is missing any kind of breakdown. I would consider trying to find something to relate it back to the overall theme.
In conclusion, your paper is excellent at doing its task. That is to take a piece of art, compare, contrast, and give anaysis of what the artist is trying to portray. If you could introduce the background of the paper and fix a few things in the body to make it flow, it could be an A paper.
This essay was very good. The critical interpretation is excellent. You saw a lot more in that series of picture than I think most people would have seen; you read between the lines very well. I can definitely see why you are considering art as a career, and think you a very gifted on the subject. The only critiques I have about your paper are your style and organization. You give a great description for each picture, but I found myself having to re-read each paragraph to fully understand it. You might want to try cutting down on some of your words by combining sentences. This will also change up the repetition of your sentence structure making it more enjoyable and easier to read. And you also might want to try giving a plain description and then analyzing it in each paragraph, or give an analysis and then show why you think that by providing the description. Either way works, but it make the paper a little more uniform and easier to read. I would say also that instead of saying as your thesis “one explanation sticks out in my mind,” to just go ahead and say what that explanation is. You might want to write your paper, figure out what that explanation is, and then put it in your thesis. This makes a stronger more pointed thesis. But I would definitely say that besides that, this is one of the must thoughtful and content rich papers I’ve read.
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